Angela Rye

One of the most prominent and pop culture-friendly political voices to emerge in the wake of Donald Trump's election, attorney Angela Rye gave a voice to black Americans as a commentator for CNN while also serving as an attorney and the CEO of advocacy firm IMPACT. Named after Black Panther Party activist Angela Davis, Angela Rye was born in Seattle, WA in 1979. After graduating from the University of Washington, Rye attended the Seattle University School of Law where she gained valuable experience working in Congresswoman Maxine Waters' District Office. Rye then began her legislative career proper in 2004 as the Western Region Director of the National Black Law Students Association. A year later she moved to the umbrella association for the USA's 120 historically black colleges and universities, the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, as a co-ordinator for advocacy and legislative affairs. In 2006 Rye founded IMPACT, an organization designed to inspire young professionals of color to engage in economic, civic and political activities. Shortly after, she was appointed as a Senior Advisor and Counsel to the House Committee on Homeland Security, where under the guidance of Congressman Bennie G. Thompson she helped to shape various political strategies, bring government contracting practices into the 21st Century and give small businesses the opportunity to thrive. Her career reached new heights in 2011 when she was appointed Congressional Black Caucus' Executive Director and General Counsel for the 112th Congress, a role in which she helped develop the Caucus' political strategy and overall legislative. Rye first began making a name for herself as a TV personality on the likes of "Politics Nation with Al Sharpton" (MSNBC, 2011-) and "Real Time with Bill Maher "(HBO, 2003-), but it was her well-balanced, yet meme-friendly, arguments against Donald Trump during the 2016 Presidential election that truly brought her to national attention. Rye became an in-demand political commentator, correspondent and analyst, working on numerous CNN shows such as "CNN Tonight" (CNN, 2001-), "The Lead with Jake Tapper" (CNN, 2013-) and "At This Hour" (CNN, 2015-), as well as for TV One, HuffPost Live, BET and NPR. After guesting on an episode of drama "Being Mary Jane" (BET, 2013-18), in 2017, Rye was given her very own four-part news special, "State of the Union" (BET, 2018), which dissected Donald Trump's first State of the Union Address and his general impact on African-American citizens since his inauguration.